Embedded pet hair in carpets needs brush action as well as suction, and all these models use rotating heads to lift nasties from deep in the pile. If you add extra filter and fragrance pods to some models, your home will be whiff-free and pristine. We've tested and included cylinder, upright, hand-held and robot vacuums, so make sure you opt for the model best suited to your space. 1. Miele C3 Cat and Dog Powerline: £229.99, johnlewis.co.uk The most efficient cylinder vacuum we tried, this packs a punch to the point where our tester said she could see carpet actually lift from the floorboards. Unsurprisingly, it picks up hair with ease. It comes with an extra turbo-head for pet hair pick-up and the integral air filter helps absorb dog and cat whiffs so you won’t spread odours around the house. We liked the way this cylinder vacuum had a dial to vary the suction strength, so it could be used to gather lighter fluff in a pet bed without sucking up the cushion insert too.

The turbo brush head attachment was good on longer-pile carpets. This wasn’t the strongest vacuum we tried but a good value budget choice. 3. Sebo Airbelt E1 Pet: £259.95, amazon.co.uk This powerful cylinder model was so whisper-quiet, our tester had to check she’d put it on properly. The squidgy 'bumper' all around it meant any knocks to walls and furniture were also hushed. The ergonomic handle was very comfortable and it made light work of stubborn pet hairs with a couple of sweeps of the pivoted head. 4. Roomba 880 Vacuum Cleaning Robot: £574, amazon.co.uk Expensive, yes, but what price more free time with your pet? You can programme the Roomba to do its thing at a certain time every day while you’re out taking Fido to the park. It will reverse as it senses obstructions and stairs but will also know when something’s light enough to brush past.  Robust and surprisingly effective, it can sense how hard to work as it scoots under furniture and goes from hard floor to carpet before returning itself to base for charging.

5. Turbo Power Bagless Pets Upright Vacuum Cleaner: £119.99, hoover.co.uk This was heavier than most of the vacuums we tried, so not best for stairs and lugging around smaller rooms. However, if you want to tackle bigger carpeted areas, this budget model is effective and has a rotating brush pet attachment too, making tackling hairy upholstery a cinch. Rather than using a traditional brush movement to sweep up pet hair, Dyson’s Tangle-Free Turbine attachment uses counter-rotating heads to ball up the hair and send it straight to the see-through bin. (Easily emptied, thankfully – balled Labrador hair is not pleasant.) The hose was long enough to cover a 13-step staircase, so we set it to work with impressive results. 7. Black and Decker Lithium Flexi Vacuum with Pet Hair Removal Tool: £67.99, amazon.co.uk Leave this cordless, lightweight vac to charge then you’ll get around 20 minutes to half an hour’s worth of surprisingly strong suction. That’s plenty of time to zip over the car interior using the pet hair attachment, or zoom round curtains and other hard-to-reach areas with the extendable hose.

8. Vileda Robot Cleaner: £149.99, argos.co.uk Another robot vacuum, this more basic version has less powerful suction power and fewer clever features than the Roomba, but let’s not forget the price difference. However, if you want something to scoot round uncomplicated areas cleaning up kitty kibble and fluff, then it’s great for sprucing up while you get on with other chores.cleaning cooling fan hp laptop 9. Gator Pet Handheld Vacuum: £49.99, amazon.co.ukusing hoover to clean laptop fan The more traditional ‘dust buster’ end on this handheld vac can be supplemented with a chunky Turbohead brush to gather hair. best upright vacuum cleaner for carpet

As usual with rotating heads, any longer hair (human, usually) gets wound around the brush but that’s easy to snip off with scissors thanks to its wide opening. We liked the washable filter which kept this model whiff-free. 10. Gtech AirRam K9: £249, gtech.co.ukbest canister vacuum cleaner value Our tester loved the versatility of this cordless cleaner. laptop cooling fan surgingThough it worked well on pet hair with a couple of scoots, he found larger debris could be fired out again occasionally. best cleaner for unfinished wood floorDirt and pet hair was compacted into blocks that were less messy to jettison than bags or dusty canisters. The option of fitting floral-scented tabs to the filter was a nice touch this cat owner appreciated.

The Miele seemed to have the most impressive suction of all those we tried and really set to work on carpet hair that was usually hard to shift. With the uprights, there’s no denying the Dyson delivers, especially with its handheld attachment for pet hair. For absolutely amazing results with zero effort, though, Roomba really was the dog’s whatsits. IndyBest product reviews are unbiased, independent advice you can trust. On some occasions, we earn revenue if you click the links and buy the products, but we never allow this to bias our coverage. The reviews are compiled through a mix of expert opinion and real-world testingWhen buying a corded vacuum cleaner, you first have to decide whether you want upright or cylinder. Cylinders are smaller so may be easier to store, while uprights often have more power, though are usually heavier than their cylinder counterparts. Though some cordless cleaners are now very powerful, they will only run for half an hour or 40 minutes at the most, so for several rooms you need the stamina and power that plugging into the mains delivers.

Some cleaners use bags, which is an on-going cost and can mean the suction power drops as the bag fills up. Bagless is the other way to go, though it’s usually more expensive upfront. 1. Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal: £449, Dyson The Big Ball (stop sniggering at the back) is designed so it doesn’t fall over, or at least picks itself up again when it does. The design also makes it easier to steer the cleaner. This model is meant for households with pets but there are other Cinetic cylinders in the range which are a little cheaper. But the quality of dust and dirt removal on this Dyson is outstanding, and it’s a dream to use. Multiple floor tools suit carpet, wood and other surfaces. 2. AEG UODELUXE+ UltraOne: £225, Appliances Direct AEG’s cylinder is powerful – sometimes it’s almost hard to prise it off the floor, it’s so strong. It’s designed with controls usefully placed on the handle. It’s quieter than many vacuums, thanks to what the company calls the AeroPro Silent nozzle and Silent Air technology.

The noise is actually 66dB, where many vacuums are significantly more (75dB but that’s much noisier). It’s especially good with pet hair. This cleaner uses bags and is the heaviest machine on the test (8.88kg). 3. Miele Compact C2 Cat & Dog Powerline: £249.95, John Lewis When it comes to picking up pet hair, Miele makes exceptional vacuum cleaners, such as this model which can suck up pet hair quickly and easily. Its bags have considerable capacity so you won’t be emptying them all the time. The floorhead is designed to mimic the power of a cleaner with a higher wattage level to pick up more dust. 4. Dyson Small Ball Total Clean: £430, Dyson Disproving the rule that uprights are heavy, this Dyson is small and extremely light – handy when you’re carrying it up the stairs. The main handle is retractable so you can store it in a smaller space, too. The bin volume is smaller, mind, as a result of this compactness so it requires frequent emptying, though this emptying process is simple and hygienic thanks to a well-placed release trigger.

Like other Dysons, this is bagless. 5. Vax U85-AS-Ue Air Stretch Ultimate: £99.99, Argos This bagless upright is excellent value and combines a powerful motor with a long cord and hose so it can manage stairs and reach into awkward corners. It’s very lightweight, too, though like the Dyson upright, the dust compartment is smaller than some here. It also comes with a longer-than-average six-year guarantee. There is a pet hair-specific model in the range but this one is good enough for pet owners. 6. Numatic Henry HVR.200-A2 Cylinder: £94.99, Currys Henry cleaners have always been great at efficiently, quickly picking up plaster dust, for instance, that can cause other models to struggle. The eyes and mouth suggest it’s a comical machine but it works tremendously. It has a large capacity bag and its long cable (10 metres) means it can cover a big room or the stairs without you having to re-plug it. It’s not light but it’s certainly capable. 7. Zanussi ZAN7880UKEL Pet Bagless: £129.99, Argos

This is another cylinder cleaner designed to help pet owners live fur- and hair-free. The mini turbo nozzle is designed to grab the bits your cats and dogs have left behind. There are no bags to change and it is well-suited to hard floors as well as carpets. It’s also lighter than some rivals here. 8. Hoover WR71WR01 Whirlwind: £49.99, Argos The upright Whirlwind offers extremely good value in a lightweight, powerful machine with a decent-sized bin for longer vacuuming before you have to empty it (a simple process on this bagless cleaner). The power cord isn’t as long as some here (five metres) but it is still very functional. The tools aren’t as versatile as offered by some other cleaners but are fine for most situations. It’s quite noisy, though. 9. Philips PowerPro Expert FC9724: £185, Philips The bagless PowerPro is a good all-round performer, with impressive results on carpet and hard floors and with pet hair, for instance. It’s lightweight – at 5.5kg, it is one of the lightest on the test.